Thirteen Reasons Why | Jay Asher | Book Review

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher Book Review

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher Book Review

My Musings 

The 13 Reasons Why is my favorite book of all time. It connects me to myself, makes me rethink the things I'm doing or done in the past. It's a great book to analyze your decision-making and how that affects others. This book makes you realize that you can do better in your life.

We need one reason to live but to die, to kill ourselves, we need more than many reasons. In Hannah's case, there are thirteen reasons, which pushed her towards the edge of ending her life, for once and for all. Hearing is talking, this phrase fits very well for this book. When I read the 13 Reasons Why book for the first time I was in deep shock and was fully submerged in my own past. 

Believe me, you need not to be a bad person to grow regrets all over your body. Even good people have their share of regrets and some can be as dark as death. This book made my past life regrets and mistakes rekindle again in my head and made them all alive and immortal.

My Personal Connection With The 13 Reasons Why book -

Not many people know that I lost one of my internet friends forever, maybe. I never saw or listened to her voice ever, it was just hours of endless chatting that glued us together for some months. Then she went on a family trip, we didn't chat for a while then one late night she texted me, her texts were gibberish like she was drunk when she was typing and she said in one of her messages she might not have drunk that much. 

The next morning I was going somewhere with my uncle by train. That was the last morning we talked. She was sounding all grief-stricken and heavy-hearted, she never sounds that blue to me. I begged her to tell me, what's the matter? Why is she talking about gloomy things? She didn't answer any of my questions, just told me to block her, forgive her and forget her. Well, I never succeed in forgiving or forgetting her but she picked the first option and blocked me.

When we last talked about books she was reading this 13 Reasons Why book. I regret that I wasn't able to stop her. It feels like regrets are festering wounds.

Storyline

A shoebox, full of 7 tapes and 13 reasons why your friend, your love interest opts to take her life. This brief description is enough to split the stomach and drag you to the nearest trash bucket to throw up. A dead girl's voice never felt that alive when she was actually having a life. But now on those whirling tapes, the voice which is coming through a walkman to your yellow headphones, and from there, like a thick mush of death, it's melting in your whole body. Every skin and brain cell can feel that voice, the thickness and heaviness of the truthfulness in that voice making you one of the reasons why she killed herself. You have to go through all the thirteen reasons why to know where you take part in those who are the others. So are you ready for this?

You cannot skip them because there are people who are watching you and if you did not listen to all those tapes, all those thirteen reasons why or if you didn't pass it to the next person who is next in those tapes, then you and all of those who are in tapes are going to deal with dire repercussions.

What reason are those tapes caring? How Clay is a reason for Hannah's Suicide? Who are the others? Who is going to Jail if those tapes come out? Who is watching those people who are listening to tapes? How is Clay going to deal with all the mental agony which is coming with every single part of the tapes? And most importantly how are you going to deal with it all?

Characters in Lead

Hannah Baker - I watched the show 13 Reasons Why on Netflix so the picture of Hannah is going to be Katherine Langford in my head and heart always. As soon as I hear the name Hannah, curly hair, big bold eyes, and that charming million-dollar smile and a plethora of legit questions come to my mind. How can someone be cruel to her? Hannah is so pure and full of life. How can someone cheat and humiliate her? How does she end up getting no one by her side? Do rumors weigh more than reality?

Clay Jensen - No Matter how unputdownable this book is, the struggle of Clay Jensen is going to make you cry and be vulnerable. Whenever I find him weak, I have to take certain breaks and close the book to calm myself down before reading further. Once you watch the show 13 reasons why on Netflix or wherever you can watch it, the actor who plays the role of Clay Jensen, Dylan Minnette. He makes the character of Clay Jensen so real and intense that you are going to fall in love with him and whatever in the show is going to hurt him it hurts you in double.

Narration and Writing

Thirteen Reasons Why is the debut book of the author Jay Asher, and what an extraordinary start he made for his writing career which is exceptional and commendable till today. The narration is butter-smooth, though everything Hannah says on tapes and Clay feels is very difficult to gulp down. It dries my throat and chokes it. The author Jay Asher's best move is he writes the book from two perspectives which are doubling the pain and the intensity of the book. And when Clay follows those reasons one by one and visits every place where the actual reason takes place, his agony and condition are unspeakable and unfathomable. The writing of the author makes all visible to the eyes and more tangible to the heart and mind.

Review

It is a hard book, a really hard book, every page, every tape side brings with it humongous size of emotional trauma and pain. Just after reading the first chapter of the book, side A from the first tape, you will fall into a deep dilemma, where you want to read the whole book in one go, but your mind will keep warning you about the impending pain and impact of the story. If you're dealing with the same issues It is better and essential for your mental health that you should take this book slowly.

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher contains so many real-life issues which make the story and its characters real and intense, and that's the reason why it hurts and aches inside a reader's heart and mind. The after-effects of the book stay for a long time inside the mind of readers. Which makes you aware of your decision-making and its after-effects on people. It also helps in spreading awareness around people. 

For me, the 13 Reasons Why book and the web show both are an addiction, and both the book and web show are extraordinarily impactful and bring emotional trauma with it. This is a life-changing book. It works like a mirror that reflects your regrets, lies, truths, and all the bad and good things which you did in your past, it makes you completely naked in front of you.

Recommendation

You need to be at least 16+ to read this book as is it contains a lot of sensitive issues like bullying, rape, depression, anxiety, and suicide. If you're dealing with some mental issues, you must not read this book. Take it slow if you're feeling too much anxiety while reading the book. Although at some level we all are dealing with mental issues, if we positively see this book, it is a very positive and life-changing read.

-Abhi Panwar

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